Puss in Boots, or Cougar-aided Prowling

Recently I received a very timely and very handy package from Cougar boots. Just in time for the rainy season, I received two pairs of boots. Rubber “Regal” rain boots, “Ravishing” winter boots, a Cougar mug, sweater and 4 hot chocolate packages.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to try the hot chocolate as I’ve been on a detox which isn’t friendly to sugary drinks, but I have been appreciating the warm sweater with a cheeky “COUGAR” label on it and the Cougar Boots motto on the back:

For the world you walk on. Love what you wear.

The first thing that I noticed was the packaging. Loved it. Inside were my ravishing boots. They are made out of suede and nylon with polar plush lining inside. They are rated-10°C to -30°C / 14°F to -22°F, meaning I am more than set for the cold Canadian winter (although i’m wholeheartedly hoping that Winter 2010-11 will be as mild as last year’s). They retail for approximately $170 Cdn.

Since there is no real snow to test these boots, I stood in the bath tub filled with several inches of water, splashed about to test them out. No serious injuries occurred. No serious wetness occurred either, which is good news. During winter my biggest worries are the sloshy days when the snow starts to melt and you find yourself wading through puddles of melted snow, salt and dirt (before it freezes the following night). I’ve a good feeling that the Ravishing pair will save me this time.

Now this pair of Regal rain boots was tested in the wild. (By the way, I never had rain boots, so this  Last week we had several days with some rainy forecasts ahead. I put these on. Because they are rated Rated 0°C to -24°C / 32°F to -11°F and because they have polar fleece lining, I was excited about the prospect of keeping my feet warm.

They didn’t disappoint. I was comfortable and warm all day. The only negative feature about them is the springy feeling when walking. Because of the small heel and the fact that they’re made of rubber, they make me hop a little (very, very little). But that’s a subjective issue.

What really sold me on these boots was the fact that few hours later, when I put them on again to step out to run a couple of errands, the soles were STILL warm! Putting on warm boots is always a pleasure. Sold. This particular model retails for $85 CDN and $80 USD. I imagine that similar, smaller rubber boots are constructed in a similar fashion and have similar effects.

Thanks to Matchstick for orchestrating this pleasant fall/winter gift. I will definitely be scoring these boots this fall and winter.

Books I Read This Year

December is for summaries and lists. I’m not doing any music selections (yet?), but I’ve been keeping track of books I’ve read. I had to recreate the list from memory this November, so I am sure I am missing a 2 – 3 books that I forgot about (not memorable enough? Too much information to remember?)

• Economics of Strategy was definitely for the Industry Analysis class I was taking in January. Again, this book features a picture of a pretty painting on its cover. Reminds me of the times I took a statistics class and each chapter in the textbook featured a fragment of this or that modern art work.

• -(Clickable image) Bukowski’s. Way too repetitive, sad and overflowing with erotic scenes. Got boring halfway through.

• – Ghosts, not a bad book by Cesar Aira. A poignant story about young and impressionable hearts, lots of magic, ghosts and hardships.
• I wish Someone Had Told Me That – girls were making fun of the author photo, and I  understand them. The author seems like a solid square, but his publisher and people he interviewed for the book, have both been helpful. Great kernels of experience.
• Housekeeper and the Professor – great book, a lot of math and humanity. I wrote a review.
• A Whole New Mind – positively inspiring, set me on a quest to find a masters program with the perfect blend of art and business. Daniel H Pink is really good, supports his ideas with references, and is an all around fun and important non-fiction writer.
• – DeNiro’s Game was not bad, mostly a boys’ book about badass youngsters in a struggling part of the world, salvaging what they can.
• The Sleeper Awakes – the classic. Interesting vision of 2100. What the heck, Wells was great.
• – Bonjour Tristesse was a little self-indulgent, but an important book nevertheless. It’s like an overpoweringly cliche French movie you watch on a Sunday afternoon in bed
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies – hilarity!! I wolfed the book down, especially because I couldn’t be bothered to read the original Pride & Prejudice. Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters are next on the list.
• the medium is the massage – confirms my belief that McLuhan was seriously ahead of his cohort by many, many decades. His statements still ring true. Amazing.
• Choice Theory: A very short introduction – purchased at the Harvard store with the intention of learning to make better, rational choices. I make more rational choices now, but can’t 100% say they’re much better or worse. They’re just rational choice. (Which probably implies that they are indeed “better” than the irrational ones)
• Pnin – and thus my love affair with Vladimir Nabokov started.
• Lolita – serious lust, for little girls, for language. Best written book, ever. Nothing can compete. I felt all kinds of emotions when reading it, deeply, painfully and ecstatically. I’ve yet to write an actual post about it. and I will.
• The Eye – not the best work of Nabokov, but luckily it is short.
• Lunar Park – Bret Easton Ellis did really well in this one. If I read it in 2005, when it came out, I’d probably feel like everyone else who read it then and expected yet another repetitive party story (like his other books); or worse, expected something of an American Psycho saga (since so many people only read that book by him and know nothing more). There is an American Psycho presence there, btw, but also a good blend of real and unreal, of true and false. An intense and rapidly evolving downward spiral that gave me nightmares and even made me terrified of a potential toy in my hallway. Lulz, I told you I was an emotional reader.
• Miro: A life of passion – wrote a blog post about this. An inspiring story.
• Meditations in an Emergency – I can’t believe I let Frank O’Hara slide by for this long. He’s inspired me to write a new series of poems.
• How to talk about books you haven’t read – Pierre Bayard treatise for those who actually love reading. It makes a great gift for someone who loves reading and has a sense of humor. I also felt like I read a lot more books than just one because each chapter explores a particular literary issue in the context of this or that novel.
• Crush It – Gary Vaynerchuk’s high pitched to-do list for a successful persona-driven online enterprise. I was pleased to know that I already knew or did 75% of the things listed here. Learned about new services that I could employ and felt energized. Good guy. Fellow USSR-born import.
• White Out, pt 1 – Consumed this in 1 hour on a plane. I wish I brought part 2 with me, because I spent 3 hours watching TV on a plane instead of exercising my reading muscles. Dang. And on that note:
• White Out, pt 2 - Will read it before the year is over. Just an hour of my life, right
• Speak, Memory – Nabokov’s autobiography. Masterful renewal of Russia lost, of innocence gone, of the society that will never appear again. I love it. I fell deeply into it, and don’t want to raise my head and blink at bleak reality right here. I’ve 40 more pages to go, but I’m positive I’ll complete the tale before the clock hits 12 on Dec 31.
• Eating Animals – hurrying to finish this startling, well-supported case by Jonathan Safran Foer (fiction writer, eh), before the year is over (100 pages left), so that I could dismiss meat in the new year. In fact,  this Christmas I’ve been dealing with agonies over cruelty-full turkeys and cows. Bah. An illuminating read.

Note 1: I am utterly terrified that I haven’t read anything in Russian last year (besides e-mails). Really? This cannot be. I’ve half a shelf of Russian classics in my home, and I better get to them come new year.

Note 2: I may be missing a book or two, because I forgot I read it this year. Some books aren’t as memorable as others, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something.

What have you read this year?

Why Doesn’t Every Consumer Staple Company Do This?

In a quest to find a personal hygiene product, a stick deodorant, to be precise, I ventured into Shoppers Drug Mart, which is a Canadian (and better, in my opinion) version of Duane Reade or Walgreens in the US, Jean Coutu in Quebec and London Drugs in the Canadian West.

Walking through the aisles populated by at least one individual lost in thought and intimidated by choice of products that he or she came to buy, I stumbled onto my section. It is important to state that at first I kind of chuckled at old men bent over rows of toothpaste, females ardently arguing over two boxes of hair color which shades looked exactly the same, young guys figuring out bath tub cleaning supplies, and old ladies hovering over stacks and stacks of hand cremes and facial moisturizers. So many choices, so little time, so much uncertainty.

Then I became part of the comedy that I first laughed at. Seriously, how the heck am I supposed to choose an antiperspirant, there are like 50 of them begging for my bucks. OK, there is a gel type and a white stuff type. I pick the white. That’s a start. Then I start taking tiny steps to the right and to the left, unable to choose between two different brands (I felt like trying something different as my previous deodorant wasn’t particularly thrilling).

And then EUREKA. I see the brilliant people behind DOVE screaming their product benefits at me via a very visible sticker on their Ultimate Beauty Care antiperspirant stick (Radiant Silk type, btw). I immediately grabbed it, smelled it, like it, put it in my basket and walked away.

If at least ONE market player explicitly tells me why they’re better than their extremely similar competitors in the consumer staple market, I’m going to go with the loudmouth brand. Thanks Dove, thanks Unilever actually.

The 6 benefits and advantages are, just so I could hopefully inspire you to switch brands:

1. all day wetness protection
2. all day odour protection
3. formulated to stay on skin, not on clothes
4. Dove 1/4 moisturizers
5. smooth & silky application
6. beautiful fragrance

As a relatively unpicky (but quality-seeking) consumer, I want all of those features. But notice something? Every antiperspirant stick brand can make the same claims, perhaps sans the Dove 1/4 moisturizers part, but with their own secret ingredient. We’re talking consumer staples, we’re talking spending 15 minutes deciding between thing A and thing A. It’s almost all the same. And yet Unilever was the only one that explicitly shoved the differentiating factors into my face.

Bravo, you win my $4.39!

New Horizons

Felt a little guilty about not providing any updates on what’s been happening with me since May 24th. I’ve left Agent Wildfire for a geographically closer, more upbeat and growing Cyberplex. I love what I’m doing. I work with determined, creative and excited people and every hour that I am here, I feel energized, empowered and challenged. There is a project, Shop Causes, that I am currently working on – my task is to release it from its incubator and relinquish it into the market. I want to tell you more as I hope that is something you would get into.

It is a free Facebook Application through which you can do your online shopping and support a cause of your choice (any). For example, after having added the application, I first selected Sick Kids Foundation (most popular cause on the app), then opted out for PETA. Then I browsed 200+ online retailers whose stores I can browse, make purchases and then see them donate a percentage to my chosen cause. I lose nothing here. I also shop online very often.

I’m very excited about this project because as a 1) generation Y young bird wanting to change the world; 2) online shopper 3) recessionista, I can help  myself and others here without having to take a lot of my own hard-earned and sometimes uninexistent disposable income to donate to charities of my chosing. Pass the word along, guys, I think together we can really make a difference here by doing nothing more than what we do already – shop and spread the word.

PS. I’m also managing the Twitter account, find us @ShopCauses. Check out developments there and tweet your purchases and we’ll add $0.25 to your cause.

Because You Asked About Makeup

It’s time to talk about girly things because I never really do, and I am not a gang of girlfriends type o’lady. So I will tell this to the Internets and even show a photo of my collection. These are the most valuable and most important players in my makeup collection. Mind you, not all of them are used all at once, because I don’t have an hour to spend in front of a mirror to go get pho.

1. Urban Decay liquid eye liner in – and this is one of the reasons I got it, laughing maniacally – “Perversion”, which is another word for… black?
2. Korres Ginger and Vitamins natural water-based foundation in LF1. Vitamins C, E and ginger moisturize and SPF 10 adds extra protection. I’ve been using it for 3 months now and can definitely say that the effects are amazing. I wrote about it here as well.
3. Cargo Texas Lash mascara. Cargo is known for producing a fabulous line of High Definition makeup, which is what apparently is used on movie stars. Now that the masses have access to this miracle, I thought I’d test it out. I was expecting bull, but was pleasantly surprised when this super soft and easy to remove (but long-lasting at the same time) mascara increased the length and volume of my lashes in an instant. Perfect for smokey eyes, and for those that don’t have too much time to twist and curl their lashes. Respect.
4. Lorac brow pencil in Auburn. What a shock it was to see its dramatic effect. Soft pencil that lasts long and doesn’t smudge easily. Perfect shade for my red hair.
5. Korres 98.8% natural primer. Again, a miracle. Smooth baby face guaranteed.
6. Korres concealer in WC3 – this thing actually conceals and is a perfect tone for my skin – tad bit lighter than my own. Really covers and really stays.
7. Sephora blush me! in No 12 adds a soft touch to my cheekbones.
8. Hally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish in Wined Up really does dry fast and utilizes a non-traditional wide brush for more effective application. I’m impressed. (Not shown are my shades of red and black, both by Revlon actually)
9. Korres lip and cheek butter in Wild Rose is another miracle from this Greek brand. I was shocked as to how smooth, pleasantly aromatic (how many wild rose lip glosses/butters have you encountered in your life?) and incredibly moisturizing it is. Love the tint of color it leaves as well. Definitely the purchase of the season!!
10. Christian Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect 757 is what I use when I feel like taking it up a notch. It really does wonders with its maximum shine feature and fantastically 3D color. A must for every sexy lady.

Questions? Write a comment. I’d be more than happy to discuss. I’m also open to challenges if you provide me with a contending product. (I just calculated how much all this costs, and we’re talking $250 value. No wonder I purchase all these things over time )

Placebo Works Better

Placebo is the best band in the world in my opinion, and it’s one of the most underrated ones. I’ve been an ardent fan of theirs since about 2000, if not earlier (maybe not as long as No Doubt’s, but I stopped loving No Doubt the moment Gwen started whoring herself out). Not only is Brian Molko a handsome fox, but he’s also got quite a big mouth. Oh yeah, and did I tell you he wears make up since 12? A man open about his sexuality, quite a novel, especially back in 1994.

I missed their concert in Vancouver back in 2003, and that made me incredibly sad. But I won’t miss any more concerts, especially since their 7th studio album, Battle For The Sun, is set for release on June 8, 2009! Go download the title track for free, right here or straight from this post. Now I would like to shut up and instead share my favorite Placebo tracks with you. Even if you never listened to this British band before, now is your chance. Click on the link, and you’ll be able to download directly from MediaFire.

• Special K – the slow, acoustic version. Special K is also my nickname. I could barely find the mp3 second time my computer died, and I have since then copied this track in many locations so as to never lose it again.
• Without You I’m Nothing - dear Mr David Bowie, Molko’s friend, has done a swell job here.
• Every You, Every Me – Who can ever forget this track from Cruel Intentions?
• Haemoglobin – first sentence: “I was hanging from a tree / Unaccustomed to such violence / Jesus looking down on me/ I’m prepared for one big silence”
• Slackerbitch – I used to really love screaming “fag hag whore, looks real cute, her lips are sore” during this song
• Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush cover) – simply beautiful, just as good as the original!
• Twenty Years – I’d say this is the song that marks the shift to more grown up material
• Protect Me From What I Want – really a sad song; I’ve grown to think that it has to do with a craving for drugs, thanks to this song painting a bleak vision of our world… or some part of it.
• Nancy Boy – a Placebo classic! Eyeholes in a paper bag / Greatest lay I ever had Kind of guy who mates for life / Gotta help him find a wife
• English Summer Rain – poor L-town. It’s a fun track when you’re on the run or hating Londinium
• Meds – it features VV of The Kills, not that I’m familiar with those, but nevertheless. “Babyyyy, did you forget to take your meds?”
• Blind – I find this song pretty romantic, poignant and utterly emotional… Sob sob sob
• Pure Morning – ok, this is on here because that’s the first Placebo video I’ve ever watched and my first comments were, “wtf, what a weird girl!” Then I inquired further, and everything changed.
• **New!** Battle For The Sun – the title track from the upcoming album!

L’Oreal Does It Again

Even though I am sad that L’Oreal may have discontinued my hair color, they introduced a product which made me ditch Lancome and seriously consider the Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara. Hence I was curious to try this offering from Matchstick.

This mascara easily comes off with warm water. I know, every mascara eventually comes off with water, but the whole eye area turns black and it takes some time. Also, the “tubes” in the product name play a big role – once applied, the mascara solidly wraps around your eyelashes, making them stronger, much, much longer, non-smudgy and alluring. I completely forgot about the tubes at first, so my heart skipped a beat when, after washing my face, I saw tiny little “lashes” all over my eye area. It was the tubes, and the easy removal is no myth.

There are some tricks when it comes to application. For amazing results, slowly apply a thin white basecoat, fully covering your lashes – white extensions will attach to the tips – and let dry for a moment before proceeding. While some people complain that the wand’s too short, I just learned maneuver, and my lashes turn out twice as long! I got more than I expected. The retail price is $14.99, but click here for a $5 off coupon (use this reference code: 71MF). Since Beauty Tubes don’t require a makeup remover, thus saving some bucks, every recessionista should consider the lush value for such a bargain price.

(Did you read this article? What are your thoughts on L’Oréal Paris Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara? Click here to let us know!)

Ketel One Strikes Again

Hey guys! If you remember my Ketel One post (or me blabbering about this in person), could you take a couple of minutes to fill out this survey please?

Matchstick is looking for feedback from anyone who may have seen my posting about Ketel One Vodka. If you click on the link below and complete the survey, you will be helping them by donating $2.00 to the Redwood Women’s Shelter, please Click Here to take the short feedback survey. For every survey that is completed, Matchstick will make a $2 donation to the Redwood Women’s Shelter. Your time and feedback is greatly appreciated”

Macworld

Since last Monday’s death of my HP, I decided to marry the enemy. No, wait, it began in December when I actually started contemplating getting a Mac. “Once my PC dies, I will most likely get a Mac. It’s time to make the switch.” I jinxed myself. HP died sooner than I anticipated, right after the Christmas bills arrived…

Despite receiving the Rogers employee discount (the same week I quit the company, ending a 2.5 year relationship), it was still a pricey piece of machinery, which I intend to use for more than 2 years. The Apple store guy was a jerk, contrary to my naive belief that they’re all friendly and eager-beaverly want to enlist me in their Mac army. Despite all that, I love it. It’s smooth, sleek, light and empty of the past year and a half. It’s a beauty. I’m even not regretting the lack of a right click button, since the keyboard solves that issue. The opening video that Welcomes you to Macworld in all languages is absolutely bedazzling, a Christmas again.

The only minuses are lack of my music on the hard disk, nonacceptance of mini-DVDs, and no easy switch between languages (or maybe I just don’t know how to to set up the hot keys yet). I am also in the process of getting Mac programs on the computer – please share your recommendations.

New Obsessions

Excuse my non-presence in the blogosphere this past week – I’ve been on the reading, instead of the wring, side. Here are three products I discovered this past week that have been making me absolutely cuckoo with happiness.

1. Mimipong’s Hug Your Sorrow tear-shaped toys. Love them, love them, love them. Each toy is unique and comes with a tag with space for writing down your sorrow and then hug it out. Brilliant idea. There’s a related art installation in Singapore – photos of the toys’ uses, many written sorrows etc. If you’re in Singapore, please go and take photos!
2. Korres Lightweight Foundation. I’m a brand loyalist, so the marketer’s task of persuading me to switch is hard. It happens so that I’ve been using Maybelline’s foundation for  7 or 8 years for the lack of a better alternative. I can never find the right shade. Until yesterday’s stumbles at Sephora. I found the lightweight water-based foundation in almost exactly the same shade! This foundation is also enriched with vitamins C and E and ginger extract that tone and moisturize the skin. I’m thoroughly impressed, and am considering switching my cosmetics choices to this environmentally friendly Athens-based company.
3. Eggling products – Nyokki (pictured) and co. from Japan. These egg-shaped vessels  contain soil and seeds that grow grass, lavender and herbs such as basil, mint, rosemary… This household addition will not only decorate your window sill, but add something yummy to your meals. I ordered 6 various ones for myself and my family. Available at the World Wide Nature Company.

Metroelectro

You probably already know that I am madly in love with Metromint, which I praised just last month. I absolutely love the product, the company, its community involvement, the certified green company status, and the obsession to put healthy things into one’s body.

I am completely smitten! Metroelectro, the second child of the Soma Beverage Company of San Francisco, debuted last summer. Branded as the micronutrient water, it is a no calorie, no sweetener, and no artificial ingredient beverage with zinc to boost one’s immune system, antioxidants to protect cells from damage and electrolytes to replenish essential minerals. It probably tastes like heaven, just like Metromint. Having a better access to Metromint and seeing it sold in a wide range of stores would definitely make a move to the US more appealing, but that’s about it.

Don’t forget to enter Soma Beverage Company weekly draws to win a sample pack and merchandise! Read the Metromint blog, yo.

Ketel One Wins The Prize

Now, another product that I want to write about before the year is over (considering you’ll be shopping for somethings to help celebrate NYE), hails from Holland. Made with the finest Dutch wheat, grown on the land owned by the distillery itself, distilled through the giant coal chamber for that clean taste and tested by the Nolet family member before escaping the premises, extra premium Ketel One blew my mind. I had the pleasure of trying it for the first time in my life at The Spoke in Toronto, since the pleasant and elegant establishment allowed for the thorough enjoyment of the drink, which is equally classy.

As you know, I am Russian, and the next thing you’ll think is, “Oh, she must love vodka, obviously she likes this.” Wrong. As a matter of fact, I don’t like drinking vodka per se, and never pursued this activitity. Which is why Ketel One took my tastebuds by storm. It’s very clean, ultra smooth and possesses an unoffensive aftertaste (which can’t be said about Absolut). I definitely recommend dirty Ketel One martinis to adorn your Christmas party tables or the wild New Years Eve celebrations that I suspect you’re planning.

Next time I am looking to impress connoisseurs of drink, I will include the Nolet child in my palette, not Li’l Jon-preached Grey Goose that is several grades below KO when it comes to smell and taste.

H2O

In case you are still shopping for last minute Christmas presents, may I suggest the H₂O products for the lovers of bath and body goodies. As a hunter and tester of the best such products myself, I’ve been around the block when it comes to shower gels and hand creams. I bought my mom a Naturally Gifted Collection which has a shower gel, body lotion, spray mist and a body scrub in the Natural Spring scent, which is simply divine! Divine! To add to that, Natural Spring Mineral Bath will sway any bath-loving person: natural sea salts, sea kelp and aloe with magic bubbles! My mom (and I, since I got to try it) absolutely adore it. It is gentle, not overwhelming and wonderfully natural. Yum Yum Yum.

The product definitely aligns with the H₂O concept: “It’s water, but it’s so much more. It’s the thrill you had when you were seven and played Marco Polo in the deep end. It’s the roar of the ocean at night. It’s blue. It’s mysterious, deep and wet. It’s where you wish you were going. It’s personal, comforting, and serene.”

Vancouver store is on Robson & Nelson, Toronto store is in the Eaton Center upstairs. Great if you’re not looking to spend a whole bunch. If you do want to spend a whole bunch, I suggest KORRES natural products.

Metromint

December 2005. San Francisco. I walked into a grocery store in search of water. I bought Metromint because of its sleek packaging (my favorite bottle design!) and the series of R-promises to: refresh, relieve, relax, revere, renew, rehydrate. Since then I’ve been a fan. When I see the product, I start to breathe heavily and immediately run to grab a bottle, or better yet, a couple, because I never know when I’m going to meet my beloved Metromint next. Love it, love it, love it.

I love it so much that when Chris & I went to Montreal (and he brought a bunch of Metromint with him!), I took a polaroid with the whole lot and sent it to the company, telling them of my loyalty and evangelical pursuits of converting the regular water drinkers over to the mint side. The company does not ship any cases to Canada, but the marketing director nevertheless sent me the cherrymint sampler case (before it even got released) and a t-shirt! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Oh! For those of you in the US: Order a 24 bottle case before January 8 and enjoy free shipping ($10 savings). Rock on!

Product Placement

Product placement works. Like magic. It is also one of the cheaper and more effective ways to reach the consumer – show the product in action and worry less about the PVRs. In fact, how about more collaboration with television series and what not on putting products into the hands of actors? How much more/less would that cost? And how certain can you be now that the audience will certainly see the product in action?

The first effect of product placement that I remember in my short life involved us, 16- or 17-year olds, watching one of Michael Moore’s (yuck) documentaries. I believed it was Bowling for Columbine (or another one) with my Law class. If memory serves right, there was something about McDonald’s. While the movie bashed it, a whole bunch of us got hungry. Guess where we really wanted to go after the movie was over.

Mad Men. Those folks smoke and drink non-stop. For every misfortune, the remedy is to drink. For every great thing – more drinks. Whereas I don’t drink more frequently, I definitely seem to grab my favorite Djarum Blacks more often than not. Ooops!

PS. Happy December. In two weeks I’ll be in Vancouver! Wee!